Hogwarts and the Holy Grail War

"Professor, why is this box...glowing?" Ethan asked with a little confusion.

"Glowing?" Professor Figo checked every part of the box over and over again, "I don't see any glowing place."

"I didn't see it either." George on the opposite side gave the same answer.

"Professor, can I..."

"Of course." Professor Figo handed the box to Ethan.

Ethan took the box with both hands. The light on the box became stronger and stronger, and the speed of the light flowed faster.

As if guided by something, Ethan involuntarily placed his finger on the surface of the symbol and gently slid it along the trajectory of the flowing light.

There was a crisp "click" sound, and the box opened.

Inside the box was a silver metal key, cushioned by a soft green object. The shape of the key handle was the same as the symbol on the box, and there were fine lines engraved on the key stem.

"Oh my god! How did you do that?" George looked incredulous.

"I...I don't know." Ethan shook his head and reached out to take the key.

"Wait a minute!" Professor Figo held Ethan's wrist. "We are not sure whether this is safe yet."

Professor Figo pulled out a few pairs of white gloves from his side with his other hand and handed one to George and Ethan: "Put this on first. There is a protective spell on it."

"It seems that you haven't changed your previous archaeological habits." George took the gloves and raised his eyebrows.

Ethan took the gloves with one hand, put the box on his legs, put on the gloves, gently took the key from the box, and carefully looked at every corner of the key.

When he turned the key to a specific angle, the lines on the key stem emitted a faint white light. The light moved rapidly in the depressions of the lines, pieced together bit by bit to form a certain symbol.

"It's glowing again! Just like before, it seems to be some kind of symbol!"

"Symbol? What shape is it?" Professor Figo asked hurriedly.

"I'm not sure, it's still changing... Wait, it stopped." Ethan looked at the hieroglyphs made up of light with a strange expression, "...It looks like Chinese."

"Chinese?" Professor Figo and George asked in disbelief, "What's written on it?"

"Uh... Gringotts... No. 12, Gringotts No. 12." Ethan slowly identified the words and said with certainty.

"Number 12 Gringotts?" Professor Figo and George looked at each other, confused.

"What's wrong? This shouldn't be a non-existent address or something like that, right?" Ethan put down his hand holding the key, handed it and the box to Professor Figo, and asked the two of them.

"Gringotts is a wizarding bank. It's located in Diagon Alley, where we are going next." Professor Figo took the box and key from Ethan, put them aside, and explained.

"Number 12 should be the underground vault number 12," George took over the conversation, "and it is one of the earliest vaults."

"No matter what, we have to go to Diagon Alley." Professor Figo looked out the window, "Look, we're here."

As the carriage passed through the clouds, Ethan could look down at the whole picture of London from high above through the window: the classical British-style streets, the Thames River, the Elizabeth Tower, Westminster Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge... those landmark buildings were particularly eye-catching when viewed from the air.

"Is this London?" Ethan put his forehead against the car window, looking at everything outside the window with a bit of excitement, like a child traveling for the first time.

Professor Figo looked at the curious baby beside him, and thought of everything he had experienced before. A trace of heartache surged in his heart, and he couldn't help but sigh secretly.

"That's right, kid. This is London." Professor Figo patted Ethan's shoulder with a smile, "Welcome to England."

Chapter 2 Survivors

The carriage slowly descended from the sky and finally stopped in a small alley.

Seeing the carriage stop, Ethan opened the door first, jumped off the carriage, and landed steadily in an extremely coquettish posture. After getting up, he stretched his body while looking at the crowded street outside the alley.

Professor Figo slowly got off the carriage, turned around and asked George, "Are you really not going to Gringotts with us?"

"No, the Ministry of Magic still has a lot of things to deal with. Ah, see you again if we have the chance, Mr. Ethan." George turned and saluted to Ethan, then drew out his wand.

"Apparate."

Accompanied by a spherical space wave, George disappeared in front of the two people, just as he appeared.

"Okay, it's time for us to go to Diagon Alley." Professor Figo walked out of the alley and turned back to greet Ethan at the street corner. "It's still some distance from Diagon Alley, so we still have to walk a distance."

"Okay, Professor, I'll be right there."

Ethan quickly caught up with Professor Figo, standing half a body length behind Professor Figo, following Professor Figo's pace at a leisurely pace while thinking about what had happened in the past week.

-

Ethan came to this world a week ago. In layman's terms, he is a time traveler.

He could no longer remember the details of how he traveled to this world. He only felt that he had closed his eyes and opened them again, and then he went from his bed at home to a hospital bed. He had an oxygen mask on his face, an IV in his left hand, and his whole body ached. He looked like he was almost half dead.

“It’s a strange ceiling.”

Ethan complained silently, struggling to sit up slowly and looking around.

"Where am I--Ugh!"

Ethan couldn't help but cover his forehead with his hand due to a sudden piercing headache. He supported himself on the bed with his other hand and slowly lay down again.

Along with the pain came a flood of memory fragments that flooded into his mind. Ethan gasped and lay on the bed, carefully sorting out the disorganized information.

"Holy Grail War... explosions... wizards... human sacrifices... fuck, what the hell is going on here?"

Ethan's memories before the time travel told him that the Holy Grail War was just a fictional thing that existed in anime and games, and he was still an unlucky player of a card-drawing game under this IP. But the memory fragments that just flooded into his mind reminded him that those were real things that he had personally experienced.

crunch--

The door of the ward was pushed open, and a silver-haired old man walked in. He looked at Ethan lying on the bed and asked with a smile.

"Yo, you're awake?"

Ethan sat up again and looked at the old man: his face was full of wrinkles, his nose was hooked, his cheekbones were high, and his eyes were blue, a typical Western face; his face was very unfamiliar, which meant that he was not someone he knew in this world; he was wearing casual clothes instead of hospital uniforms, which meant that he was not an employee of this hospital. So, why did he come to see him?

"Who are you?" Ethan asked.

"Figo Eleazar, just call me Figo." Figo smiled, sat down in the nursing chair next to the bed, and gently pressed Ethan's shoulder. "You must be Ethan. It's better for you to lie down and rest now."

Ethan didn't lie down or say anything, he just stared at Figo's face.

"I know you have a lot of questions now, but I have to explain them slowly. You should just lie down and rest during this time." Figo still kept smiling and took back his hand that was pressing on Ethan. Ethan no longer insisted and lay down on the bed.

"You may begin to speak now."

"Okay, let me start by telling you who I am..."

From Figo's rambling narration, Ethan learned the context of all these things: a British black wizard fled to China to perform black magic rituals in order to gain power and immortality. After years of research, he merged the magic systems of the East and the West and came up with a weird blood sacrifice ritual similar to the Holy Grail War, and he was one of the unlucky people chosen as the pawns of this ritual. Fortunately, the ritual went wrong, the black wizard was backfired, causing an explosion that destroyed the entire town, and he, who was supposed to die as a sacrifice, miraculously survived. Figo is a professor at a magic school, and as the highest-ranking person who happened to be on a business trip nearby, he was responsible for the aftermath of this matter.

"…That's how it is. You can ask whatever you want to ask."

Professor Figo finished his speech slowly, took out a cup from his pocket and took a sip of water.

“Why was I chosen?”

"Because you have a strong affinity for magic. In other words, you are gifted with magic. You are a natural wizard, Ethan."

"What about the others? Are they the same as me?"

"No, they are just Muggles - ordinary people. The dark wizard originally wanted to sacrifice other people through the dark magic ritual to enhance your power, and then take your life and use everything you have for himself... But, it seems that he failed."

"...So what's my current situation?" Ethan looked at Professor Figo and asked, "Am I still considered a human being? Or have I become a product of some kind of black magic? Mr. Figo, are you here to... 'deal' with me?"

"No, Ethan." Professor Figo's face became serious. "There is one thing you must understand. You are a victim just like those people who died. We will not do anything to you."

Ethan was silent, lying on the bed with his eyes closed and not saying a word. Professor Figo sighed secretly when he saw this. "This is still too early for a child." He thought so.

After a long while, Ethan opened his eyes and asked tentatively: "What should I do next?"

"As I said just now, you are a natural born wizard. I think Hogwarts will be happy to accept a promising student like you."

"Hogwarts?" Ethan looked shocked.

Hogwarts. Ethan still had some impression of this word. It was a magic school in a fantasy novel, located in the Scottish Highlands. The school was full of talented people, the spells were beautiful, and the courses were interesting. He really wanted to be a student there for the rest of his life.

But Hogwarts and the Holy Grail War are obviously two completely unrelated things, so how come they appear in the same world at the same time?

"The best magic school in the world, and the current headmaster is the best ever, Albus Dumbledore." Professor Figo hinted.

"Why do I feel like you're in a hurry to take me away, Professor?" Ethan heard the professor's hidden meaning and laughed out loud.

"In a sense, it is true. After all, Hogwarts is in England, and according to the zoning, you should be enrolled in a local magic school. But it depends on your intention. After all, as a victim, it is reasonable for you to want to change the environment and relax."

Professor Figo winked at Ethan and gave him a shrewd smile.

"So Ethan, do you want to go to Hogwarts with me, or stay here and wait for the local magic school to recruit you? Or if you want to continue to live an ordinary life, that's not impossible. I have already informed the person in charge here and can let you return to normal life. It all depends on you, my dear friend, make your choice."

-

For Tutu's sake, please don't rush to unfollow me. At least read a few more chapters!

Chapter 3 Diagon Alley

"Then, my dear friend, make your choice."

Professor Figo stood up from his chair, extended his hand to Ethan, and acted like a calm and composed charlatan.

"In that case, I have only one answer." Ethan sat up and began to perform cooperatively, "I will go to Hogwarts with you."

Ethan extended his hand to Professor Figo, and the old and the young clasped their hands tightly together.

Are you kidding? Of course I'm going. Is there anything more fun than going to Hogwarts to learn magic?

"Okay, I'll go write back to the Ministry of Magic now. You just stay here and recover from your injuries. Don't move around."

Professor Figo gave some more instructions and turned to walk out of the ward. Ethan watched Professor Figo close the door of the ward, and immediately dropped all his disguises, leaned back against the head of the bed, looked up at the ceiling, and couldn't help laughing.

"Hehe... Hogwarts... Hehe..."

-

"We're here." Professor Figo stopped.

Ethan withdrew his thoughts, raised his head and fixed his gaze on the small and shabby bar facing Professor Figo.

"The Leaky Cauldron is a very famous place in the wizarding world." Professor Figo explained, "It is also the entrance to Diagon Alley."

As a famous place, the Leaky Cauldron is too small and old, especially compared with other shops on this street, it looks even more unsightly. But the passers-by who are in a hurry don't seem to notice such an out-of-place shop at all, their eyes are completely on the bookstore and record store next door.

"Those people... Muggles, they can't see, right?" Ethan thought thoughtfully.

"Yes, there is a spell on it to repel Muggles. After all, confidentiality is very important. Come, follow me." Professor Figo took Ethan into the Leaky Cauldron, walked through several rows of tables and chairs with a few people sitting on them, and came to the equally old bar.

"What a rare guest, Figo. You finally have time to have a drink?" The bar owner stood behind the bar and raised his glass to Professor Figo, obviously knowing him.

"No, Tom. I still have to take my students to Diagon Alley to buy things. Let's talk about drinking later." Professor Figo pointed at Ethan and declined.

They walked past the bar and onto a small stone-brick patio behind it, which was empty except for a covered trash can and some overgrown weeds.

Professor Figo walked to the trash can and counted the bricks on the wall while saying, "Look, count three bricks from the top of the trash can, then count two bricks to the left, and knock three times."

Professor Figo took out his wand and tapped the brick three times.

"Stand back, Ethan. Remember the location of the bricks. Next time you can just follow my instructions and go in."

The brick he had struck began to shake, and moved in all directions with the surrounding bricks, leaving a small hole in the middle of the wall. The hole grew larger and larger, and soon a wide stone arch appeared in front of them, leading to a winding, endless cobblestone street.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Ethan."

They walked through the archway and into Diagon Alley. Ethan turned his head and saw that the stone bricks on the edge of the archway trembled and moved again, turning back into the original stone wall.

"The Partridge Cauldron Shop sells cauldrons of various sizes and materials for brewing potions; the Quidditch Boutique sells all kinds of flying brooms and Quidditch robes; the Eeyore Owl Shop specializes in selling all kinds of owls, which can help you send all kinds of letters and express deliveries; Flourish and Blotts Bookstore, you can buy all kinds of textbooks and extracurricular reference books you need for school; the Ink and Ink Stationery Shop sells stationery such as quills, ink, and parchment...ah, the white building in front is Gringotts." Professor Figo led Ethan through various strange shops and introduced them. "-But we have already gathered most of the things necessary for the start of school, and most of those things can be bought in Hogsmeade. Let me think about what else is missing...a wand, and a set of suitable robes-um, and an owl for delivering letters."

They stopped in front of a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes.

"Madam Malkin, the finest robes in England. Please go in, Ethan, and I will pick out an owl for you."

Ethan walked into Madam Malkin's store alone and looked around.

"Are you here to buy Hogwarts uniforms, dear?" Ethan looked in the direction of the voice and saw a short, fat witch in a purple robe pushing aside the cloth curtain and walking out. She must be the owner, Madam Malkin.

"Yes, ma'am," Ethan replied, nodding to Madam Malkin.

"Come to the back and I'll tailor a set for you that's perfect for you."

Ethan followed Madam Malkin to the back of the shop and stood on a low stool. Madam Malkin took out a black robe for Ethan to put on, and then helped him measure the right length.

"Well, five feet and ten inches... come on, arms outstretched... turn around... all right, honey. Go ahead and wait a minute. Your clothes will be ready in a minute."